


GV200

by Blossom_Strife



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Android Gavin Reed, M/M, Machine Upgraded Connor | RK900, Not Beta Read, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Has a Different Name, also I barely edited it sorry for the inconsistancies, also the second chapter is quite short, gavin does get shot, its really overdue but its finally here, rk900 is referred to as both richard and nines, second chapter is mostly mindless chatter and bonding, this was written for a friend who asked for it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-05-07 19:47:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19216285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blossom_Strife/pseuds/Blossom_Strife
Summary: " Gavin boots up in the rain.Nothing significant- it rains all the time in Detroit- but judging by how static his systems are, he estimates that he's been laying in the mud being rained on for hours. He remembers everything that happened with clarity- he had been directly involved in the ‘incident’, after all-and isn't all that surprised that he's still active and at almost full functionality. "Gavin meets Richard, and their first day on duty doesn't end all that well.





	1. Bullet Wounds

_ Gavin boots up in the rain.  _

 

_ Nothing significant- it rains all the time in Detroit- but judging by how static his systems are, he estimates that he's been laying in the mud being rained on for hours. He remembers everything that happened with clarity- he had been directly involved in the ‘incident’, after all-and isn't all that surprised that he's still active and at almost full functionality.  _

 

_ He pushes himself up out of the mud and sits back on his heels, using the rainwater to wash the mud from his face, hands and hair. The bridge of his nose tingles when he runs his fingers over it, and from what little he can see his reflection in a nearby puddle he assumes that it’s broken. He wipes the Thirium from it with a gentle motion, but the crack in his chassis is enough for the fluid that makes up the patterning of his skin to not be able to fully reform, leaving a dim blue scar.  _

 

_ Damn.  _

 

_ It's easy for him to drag himself out of the pit, a little harder to accept that he can't help any of his brothers, but he moves on nonetheless. He sheds his jacket as he moves away from the pit, tucking the glow of the band and triangle against himself as he makes his way to cover. The dump is deserted, as far as he can see, but he is still cautious as he wedges himself through a gap in some machinery, hiding himself away for the time being.  _

 

_ The band slides off of his jacket surprisingly easily, and after a moment of deliberation, he tucks it into his pocket for safekeeping. The triangle is harder to pull off though, sewn into the fabric as it is, and he gently unpicks the stitches, careful not to tear the fabric of the jacket itself.  _

 

_ It turns inside out nicely-the inside of it made of a darker fabric specifically for stakeouts, void of all bright name tags. There's still an android triangle on its front, but it's easier to remove than the other, designed to slip out of place when discretion is absolutely necessary. That triangle goes in his pocket too, then he slips the jacket back on, pulling up the hood to hide the sharp light from his LED. Next on the list-removing the LED entirely, and it takes Gavin a few seconds to get back into the open again, but this time at an advantage. He blends in better now, and it only takes him a few moments to find a jagged piece of metal, and pop his LED out of his temple and into his hand. It goes in his other pocket, the metal goes back on the floor, and Gavin skirts around the edges of whatever cover he can find until he escapes the fences surrounding the dump.  _

 

_ A quick check tells him that he still has access to the GV bank accounts, so he makes withdrawing some cash his next priority. The nearest ATM is outside the store on the corner of the block, and it only takes Gavin a few moments to get into his accounts and withdraw a couple hundred dollars, enough to buy himself a less conspicuous outfit, a backpack and…  _

 

_ He reaches into his pocket, fist closing around his LED.  _

 

_ … and a necklace chain, to thread his LED onto for safekeeping. _

 

_ He turns away from the ATM, stuffing the cash into his pocket, and then freezes. A figure stands a few paces away, back turned but visibly alert. Gavin steps towards him quietly, and-  _

 

~*~*~

 

Gavin wakes with a start to an android stood by his desk.

 

He doesn't move from where his head is cradled in his arms, taking the moments before the unit realises he’s awake to try and work out who exactly he is, but the unit’s details are as vague as his own, and the only thing he picks up is that its designation is ‘RK900’. A replacement for Connor, he supposes, despite the regulations against Cyberlife creating more androids during the revolution.

 

Only then does he shift, stretching out across his desk and then pushing himself upright in his seat. The RK900 turns to him as he yawns, raising a hand to make sure the gauze patch over his nose bridge is still stuck down.

 

“Good morning, Detective Reed.” It greets, and Gavin lets out an exasperated sigh, “My name is Richard, and I have been-”

 

“Hold up. I’m still half asleep Robocop, sit your ass down and I’ll get back to you once I’ve woken up.” A lie, he’s been fully awake since he booted up, but he needs to get his thirum for the day before the break room fills up with the early crowd of officers. 

 

“Understood, Detective.” Richard waits for Gavin to move away from his desk before perching on the edge of it, a motion too close to the position he’d seen Connor in at Hank’s desk during cases. He waves it off though, retreating to the break room to fill a coffee cup with Thirium, disposing of the bottle in the pretense of throwing out a milk pot. He takes the first sip as he returns to his desk, an action he picked up from his co-workers to do with ‘testing the taste’.

 

“Alright, Dick.” He puts his cup on his desk, sits in his chair, and turns to face Richard, “What’s your deal?”

 

“Cyberlife deemed Connor obsolete due to his suspected deviancy, and sent me in to replace him in all deviant related cases. Captain Fowler believes that it is unnecessary to completely replace him, and so we have only replaced them as first action to any crime scenes.”

 

“We?” Gavin raises an eyebrow, a look that leaves officers scrambling to explain themselves before his infamous rage is unleashed upon them (it’s not just a rumor, he knows for a fact that most officers have seen him break noses and jaws when people got on his wrong side). Richard, however, doesn’t seem even slightly fazed.

 

“Captain Fowler has assigned me as your partner, now that you have been released from your observation period.”

 

“Great. Out of observation and straight back into it because my partner is another tin-can.”

 

“Detective, if you are concerned about my work ethic-”

 

“Couldn’t care less about work ethic, Dick. Y’all are just nosy, and I don’t want the Captain to be informed about every single detail of my life.”

 

“If me prying into your personal life is your issue with working with me, I can assure you that I will refrain from asking questions unrelated to the case we are working on, and I will not be monitoring your every move, or reporting back what I do see of your movements to the Captain unless absolutely necessary.”

 

“I hope you realise you’re more eager to please than Connor was.”

 

“Not through any fault of his, Detective. Cyberlife decided that it would be more beneficial to our investigations if we are able to stay on the ‘good’ side of our superior, but if you wish I can act more of my own accord.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. You wanna stay perched up there all day? There’s spare chairs in the storage room if you want to actually sit in a chair.” Gavin turns back to his desk, shifting over to give Richard some space and piling up the case files scattered over his desk. Richard slips from his perch, then hesitates.

 

“Down the hall by the archive room.” Gavin says, and Richard nods his thanks before disappearing down the hall. 

 

Gavin finishes moving everything onto one side of the terminal pretty quickly, not bothering to move the terminal itself. Most cases are still on paper, despite the technological boom, and any that aren’t can be accessed through the network he’s still connected too, so he never really uses the terminal anyway. 

 

Richard returns carrying his chair with ease, and Gavin rolls his eyes as he gets closer. 

 

“Show off,” he huffs, and Richard ignores him in favour of sitting down.

 

“Is there anything I can help you with, Detective?”

 

“The terminal’s right there, knock yourself out.” Gavin scoots further out of the way as Richard leans in closer to the terminal, returning to looking through some of the unsolved case files he has on his desk. 

 

“Connor and Hank have already solved the recent cases, have they not?” Richard questions, and Gavin hums.

 

“Some of them, yes. Most of the work now is stakeouts to see if the intel we’ve been given is correct.”

 

“And yet we will have to go in anyway?”

 

“First-response gets sent in to capture the deviant or retrieve any of the evidence left behind.”

 

“Ah. I apologise for asking needless questions-”

 

“I’d rather you ask about what you don’t understand than get me killed because you don’t know what to do in the field.”

 

“Of course, Detective.” He hesitates as though he’s doubting what he wants to say next.

 

“Spit it out, Dick.” 

 

“Why exactly… do people say you have an ‘unpleasant’ personality? You’ve been nothing but civil while talking to me.” 

 

“You’ve yet to give me much of a reason to be ‘unpleasant’ towards you. Officers can push too far trying to find things out about me on a good day, so I’ve found that a pinch of hostility keeps the out of my way. As long as you don’t pry into my personal life, we’ll be fine.”

 

“Understood, Detective.” An almost comfortable silence falls between them as Richard moves out of Gavin’s personal space, fingertips resting on the terminal, eyelids fluttering as he processes all the data he can get access to. The silence barely lasts a minute before Gavin breaks it.

 

“Alright, I’m stumped. These cases don’t make any sense on their own.”

 

“Cases?” Richard looks to Gavin, colour seeping back over his finger as he pulls his hand away from the terminal.

 

“I look over unsolved cases in my spare time, make sure nothing was missed out that could have solved the case itself.”

 

“Cold cases are dubbed so for a reason, are they not?”

 

“Some cases are easily solved by linking them to other cases. Similarities are often missed or written off as coincidences, and I know that it’s the same for these cases but I just can’t-” Gavin cuts himself off with a frustrated noise.

 

“Let me see?” Richard questions, and Gavin hands him the case file he’s looking at. He mulls it over for a few moments, LED swirling yellow. “The victim profiles or the methods?”

 

“Both. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them both in separate case files.” Richard’s LED flickers red for a moment, then returns to a more peaceful yellow.

 

“Here,” he reaches to interface with the terminal again, smooth fingertips pressing against the screen, “these two case files have similarities in the victim’s backgrounds. They would seem unrelated to someone who wasn’t trying to link them but…”

 

“The details fill the gaps.” Gavin shuffles through his drawers for a notepad and pen, “Give me the key details?” 

 

Richard does so, reading out the key points with concise accuracy for Gavin to scribble down. 

 

“Yes! They fit! Look-” Gavin shoves the notepad at Richard, who looks at it in confusion. “Look at it, dumbass!”

 

“Detective I don’t…” Richard trails off with a frown. “You mean… the witness?”

 

“Yup. The same witness for every case, claiming that they had stumbled across the scene and called the police.”

 

“It’s confirmed that they were the one to make the call, and calling the police over your own crime-”

 

“And getting in jail fodder that would own up to taking part in the crime to keep suspicion off of yourself-”

 

“It’s smart. The first instinct for most humans is to get as far away from the crime as possible, it’s not expected for the perp to stay at the crime scene.”

 

“I’ve seen it done once before under the time I’ve been here, and it was done by a deviant. We only caught them because Connor was called in and spotted that it had been injured.”

 

“And this one is by a human. Could it be an imitation artist?” Richard pauses for a moment, LED tinting red for a moment. “It’s not entirely dissimilar.”

 

“An imitation of an android crime, committed against people who are very vocal in their hatred for the human ideals of how androids are treated.” 

 

“What are you getting at, Detective?” Richard questions, and Gavin drums his fingers against the desk.

 

“What I’m getting at is that the perp’s crimes aren’t isolated. It’s a crime that took place within the last month, and it’s possible that they’ll strike again. We can’t re-open the cases though, because having a shared witness isn’t enough proof.”

 

“Proof has never seemed to be an issue before in these cases. Why should it bother you now? Part of the protocols they put in was about going with my ‘gut instinct’, whatever that means.”

 

“There’s been a crack-down on getting proof before going through with things, there was a massive incident a while back with the old GV units, and they all got scrapped because an officer blamed a fatal mistake on their android cover, despite having made the call for the android to do what it did. Nobody bothered to look into the android’s memories to check whether the officer was telling the truth, and he owned up to it after he realised that palming off the blame got hundreds of dollars of technology destroyed for a programming fault that didn’t exist.”

 

“Detective, how do you know about that incident? I know that your transfer was from the station the incident was in but-”

 

“It’s none of your business, Tin-can.” Gavin spits, and Richard flinches away, LED flickering to a dark crimson on his temple. “I don’t need you digging up my past as well, alright? It’s over, it has been for months, and I don’t want to talk about it, least of all to you.”

 

“My apologies, Detective. I didn’t-” Richard flounders for a moment, the crimson stain of his LED growing darker and brighter, “I shouldn’t have pushed. I’m sorry-”

 

“Shuddup, Dick.” Gavin says, and Richard does, “I shouldn’tve lashed out, you’re just as relentlessly curious as Connor was when he first arrived.”

 

“I don’t blame you for that, Detective. It was me who-” Richard pauses, LED flashing a consistent yellow before Gavin’s phone buzzes with the same notification. He knows what it says without reading it, all notifications from his phone are re-sent to his internal network as soon as they come in. “Another call about the apartment Hank and Connor checked out earlier in the week. There’s suspected activity in there again, I’ve marked the write-up from last time so you can read it while we travel.”

 

“Thanks, Dick. You driving then?”

 

“If you’ll allow it.” Gavin grabs the keys for his cruiser and passes them to Richard as he stands.

 

“C’mon then, let's get this show on the road.”

 

~*~*~

 

Richard parks the cruiser with a smooth precision that Gavin could never achieve. Gavin tucks his phone into the glove box as Richard puts on the manual brakes, then reaches under his chair to pull out his personal gun.

  
“Here.” He tosses his police issued glock at Richard, who catches it with lethal precision. “You’ll need it if there really is a deviant in there.”

 

“Detective, you know I can’t-”

 

“I don’t give a shit about the gun laws, Dick. I’ve seen Connor pick up and use a gun more times than I can count, so I know you’re trained in using them.”

 

“Detective-” 

 

“You take that gun,” Gavin interrupts, a harsh bite to his tone, “- or you stay in the car. Understood? I need to know that you’re going to have my back in there Dick.” He opens his door and hauls himself out of the car, checking his gun’s clip before shutting the door. Richard stays in his seat for a few moments longer, teeth gritted as he half-heartedly tries to convince himself that violating the law isn’t worth it. Eventually, he sighs, stepping out of the car and tucking the glock into his belt. Gavin nods in acceptance when he sees it, waiting for Richard to reach his side before leading the way into the building. 

 

Silence carries between them for a few moments before Gavin speaks.

 

“Have you got access to a floor plan?” Richard holds a hand out, a gently glowing floor plan emblazoned across it.

 

“It’s an open plan for the most part,” he says, and Gavin hums. “The doorway is the only exit bar the windows, ao it would be advised for one of us to stay near the front hall.”

 

“You stay back. I’ve done too many search and clears.”

 

“Detective, honestly-”

 

“Stop arguing with me tin can. I’m at my wits end as it is, and I don’t care about how many times you can be replaced, I’m not letting you get yourself killed because you’re not quite used to how everything works around here.”

 

“Understood, Detective.” Richard pulls his hand back to his side as they get to the right floor, shifting so he can access the gun more easily.

 

“I’ll clear out the rooms, you can check them out more thoroughly afterwards if you want, but please at least pretend you’re watching my back.” Richard nods once, neat and professional, then stands to the side to let Gavin test the door. “Locked. You wanna do the honours?” 

 

“Of course, Detective. Stand back, if you would, please.” Gavin steps back, and Richard takes his place a carefully measured pace from the door. It only takes one kick to get it open, and when there are no sounds from within the apartment Gavin nudges Richard out of the way and enters the apartment gun first. He methodically clears the first two rooms in the main hall, and the lack of life to the apartment leaves Richard confident that he will be fine, and he steps into the first room as Gavin continues down the hall into the main room.

 

The room Richard steps into is empty of everything but dust. He scans all of it anyway, and concludes from the fading on the floor that the room used to be used as the master bedroom, explaining why it looks untouched despite the signs of recent use in the rest of the apartment. 

 

The room opposite the bedroom is a bathroom, and it only takes Richard a few seconds to spot the LED on the sink.

 

“I found it’s LED,” he calls, stepping into the doorway so his voice carries better, “By my estimate its been here for a couple of weeks at minimum, so it’s likely that- Detective?” He cuts himself off at the clatter from the main room, hand over his gun as he waits for Gavin’s response. He gets nothing until a gunshot, followed by pained swearing. He swiftly pulls the gun from his waistband at that, moving quietly down the hallway in the silence. 

 

Thirium is splattered in an arc behind Gavin, and Richard quickly identifies the bullet within the mess as one from Gavin’s gun. That throws him off- a glance at the deviant confirms that it has Gavin’s gun, and Gavin is curled in on himself with his hand pressed against his shoulder. 

 

“I suggest you drop the gun.” The request is cold, and the clatter of the gun hitting the floor quickly follows. “I hope you realise I am not as... forgiving as my predecessor. Will you come with me quietly, or am I putting a bullet into your shoulder, to repay the damage you have done to my partner?” The deviant says nothing, but lowers itself to its knees, hands behind its head. Richard wastes no time cuffing it, then levelling a flat stare at Gavin. “Stay here while I take it down to the cruiser. I’ll deal with you after.” The deviant goes easily as Richard lifts it to its feet and shoves it out of the room, and Gavin slumps against the nearest wall, pulling his thirum covered hand from his shoulder. 

 

“Shit,” he hisses, “how the fuck am I gonna get outta this one.” He drops his head back, hand returning to his shoulder, and waits patiently for Richard to return.

 

It doesn’t take long, and when he does come back into the room Gavin looks to the floor, avoiding looking directly at Richard for as long as possible. 

 

“Gavin,” Richard’s voice is impossibly soft, and Gavin glares up at him, hunched as close to the wall as possible.

 

“Yeah, I get it. You’ve gotta hand me in now because I’m deviant, but first you’re going to lecture me on my morals of hunting down my own people. I’d hoped I’d at least get past my first day on active response but- look. I had to protect myself, alright? There wasn’t another way. I’m only here because I survived that stupid fuckin’ GV incident and was left in the scrap in one piece-”

 

“Gavin listen to me.” Richard interrupts, and Gavin falls silent, looking to the floor again. “I’m not going to hand you in. And while I appreciate your honesty about your background, it is unnecessary. In fact, despite having only known you for a few hours I feel a certain… fondness towards you. Not in an emotional sense, but enough that I would find it regrettable for you to be taken in as part of the investigation. If there are questions about the Thirium I can testify to it being the deviants.”

 

“Are you not repulsed by the thought of me continuing on as your partner? I haven’t really even shown you much of a ‘good’ side to my personality, surely you’d want to be rid of me as soon as possible.”

 

“Of course not, Detective. I’ve been programmed to stick by my partner’s side first and foremost after the complaints about Connor’s first and only instinct being to complete his objective without any regard to his human partners.” Richard pauses, gaze lingering on Gavin’s wound. “You’re lucky the bullet went all the way through so I don’t have to dig it out. Jacket and shirt off, and turn around. It’ll be easier to get into the wound to patch the snapped tube from the exit wound.” Gavin opens his mouth to protest, but the constant stare from Richard has him doing as told with minimal struggle. Richard takes his personal repair kit from his pocket and hands a temporary patch to Gavin. “This may feel a little strange,” he warns, and then pokes one of his tools into the bullet wound. Gavin winces as he pulls the tube out, handing the patch over when Richard asks for it. 

 

“How’s the wiring?” 

 

“Bad. I can’t get to it without removing your shoulder plating, and we aren’t in exactly the ideal position to do that.”

 

“I don’t exactly have anywhere better for us to go.”

 

“Cyberlife has provided me with a small apartment to stay in during my downtime.” Richard puts the tube back into it’s space, tucking the tools back into his kit and withdrawing a small cleaning cloth. He uses it to wipe the Thirium from around the wound, the gets Gavin to face him again so he can clean the entry wound. “It was an… unexpected move to say the least, but they did not want me to have to go into a mainstream store for repairs in case my damages were too severe for the average technician. The idea was that in the case of an emergency repair that I was unable to patch in the field, I would be able to call for an RK technician to visit me at the apartment. I have surplus supplies, so I believe it would be most beneficial for us to go there, rather than risk returning to the precinct.”

 

“If you insist.”

 

“I’ll wait for you in the car, Detective.” Richard turns on heel, but before he can leave Gavin grabs his wrist.

 

“You won’t… tell anyone, right? I know I can’t stop you or anything but…”

 

“Of course not, Gavin. It is a risk to keep it from Amanda, but she has less knowledge of the things I don’t tell her or back up properly encrypted, so the risk is only small.”

 

“Thanks, Richard.”

 

“Nines.”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Call me Nines. Please. It’s the nickname my technician gave me before I was given a true name and…”

 

“You’ve found yourself quite fond of it? Alright. If you want me to call you Nines I will, as long as you keep calling me Gavin.”

 

“Understood, Gavin.” At that, Gavin releases Richard’s wrist to let him leave, then redresses before leaving himself.


	2. Cleanup

“Your apartment is a lot bigger than I expected.” Gavin toes his shoes off in the doorway, nudging them against the wall and then slipping his jacket off. 

 

“Well, Cyberlife is a half a days drive from here on a good day. Any technicians that have to come out for repairs are told to stay here until their next shift, and to sleep over if necessary. It’s a two bedroom apartment, but the master bedroom and ensuite have been torn up and replaced with Cyberlife issued technology. If it’s more to your comfort however, I can do the repairs while you sit on the sofa.”

 

“I’m not getting blood on your couch, Nines. I can stand to sit on a table for a few minutes.”

 

“If you insist. How’s your arm?” Gavin shrugs with his good arm, then winces. 

 

“Barely useable,” He shakily lifts his hand, and struggles to bend and flex his fingers, “maybe less.”

 

“Right. Tech room’s down the hall and to the left, I’ll grab you a drink while you settle.” Gavin doesn’t protest, shuffling down the hall to the tech room while running a diagnostic.

 

Stepping into the tech room is like stepping into another building. The walls and floor are entirely white, and unlike the rest of the house that is outfitted to stimulate being lived in, there is nothing in the room but the equipment required to deconstruct and repair androids. Gavin avoids the large platform slipping into the ensuite that contains a steel table and cupboards with enough supplies to last years. He hops up onto the table, winces when it jostles the wound, and pulls his t-shirt off again, inspecting the evaporating thirium around the bullet hole. 

 

Richard joins him a few moments later, glass of Thiruim in hand.

 

“Did you run a diagnostic?”

 

“Yeah. Bullet mostly snapped all the cables. Recommended action is to close the holes and then remove the shoulder plate to access the cables, or something of that matter.”

 

“Can you release the plates without external programs? It would make my job easier.” Richard puts the glass down besides Gavin, then retreats to the cupboards to retrieve the necessary tools to patch the plates and cables. There’s a quiet click, and then a clatter as Gavin fumbles and drops the shoulder plate as it is detached from his shoulder. 

 

“So looks like I can release it,” he chuckles nervously, twisting round to reach the plate with his good arm. “I could get to repairing the plate while you fix the cables, if that’s easier for you.”

 

“That would be preferable. Here.” Richard hands him one of the welding tools and secures the plate to a temporary block so it doesn't shift, “You work on that for the moment, I’ll get you something to smooth it out with-”

 

“Don’t bother, it’s not like I’m going to be showing off my shoulder to anyone, and if there is a physical I can just put a bandage over it. Having a strip over my nose bridge hasn’t brought any real questions.”

 

“If you say so.” Richard grabs his own tools before speaking again.  “You start on the plate, I’ll see to your wirings. You may feel a little discomfort, but I’ll try to be quick.” Gavin nods, picking up the welding tool again. Richard nudges Gavin’s thighs apart and situates himself between them, placing his hand on Gavin’s upper arm to diagnose the damage himself. 

 

It’s as bad as he thought it would be, and the repair isn’t as complex as he expected- the cables are almost completely severed, so the best course of action is to disconnect and replace the cables of the upper arm. First though, he sets himself to repairing the hole in the front of the plate. It only takes a few passes with a welding tool before he’s finished, and he steps back from between Gavin’s legs to put the tool down, then taps on Gavin’s outer thigh to get him to shift. 

 

“How about doing like, a mini lightning round while we work?” Gavin suggests, “I don’t wanna sit here in silence because I’m sort of uncomfortable right now.”

 

“That does sound productive. Do you want to ask first or should I?”

 

“Uhhh you can.” Gavin puts the plating and the welding tool to the side as Richard thinks of a question.

 

“Hm… What’s your favourite day of the week?”

 

“Really?” Gavin laughs, turning as much as he can to look at Richard. Richard shrugs.

 

“Why not? It’s a common question for this sort of activity.”

 

“Alright then smartass,” Gavin replies teasingly, turning back to the wall, ”I don’t have one, honestly. You’ve been a few places right? What’s been your favourite?”

 

“Here, I think. I’m not emotionally attached to anything, but it’s quiet here, and I can be naturally curious without being questioned.”

 

“That’s… sweet. Why aren’t you allowed to be curious?”

 

“Connor was supposedly ‘too curious’, and his questioning of things annoyed his superiors, so my social relations program restricts the questions I can ask to ones that are related to my current objective.”

 

“Huh. I do remember Anderson complaining about that. Well it’s your turn anyway, I just asked two questions.”

 

“Favourite season?”

 

“Another common one?” Gavin huffs a laugh, “Winter. People are too cold to commit more than three crimes a week, and the snow makes it easier to track them when they do. Mmmmm… Warm or cool?”

 

“No preference. They don’t affect me in any means, and I don’t work better in one or the other.”

 

“This is a little useless I realise.” Gavin interrupts before Richard can ask him another question, “You haven’t got an opinion on anything I ask.”

 

“Keep going anyway. I’ll try to find some reasoning behind having an opinion.”

 

“If you say so. Pastel or dark colours?” 

 

“And you were complaining that I was asking ‘common questions’. Dark colours are always preferable when working, but I’ve seen people wearing pastel on the street and I find the colours… pleasant. Nighttime or daytime?”

 

“Night. It’s quiet out, and I can walk without being started at.” Richard pulls the last of the cables out as Gavin talks, and then lays them out on the table. The tube repair kit goes down besides it, and Gavin takes the hint to help out in holding the tubes still - it’s all he really can do with one arm. “Squares or circles?”

 

“Do I get a context for that one?” Richard asks.

  
“In like, a design context, I dunno.”

 

“Well hexagons then, Neither squares nor circles are of any practicality when creating something that is pleasing to look at and also functional. Who’s your favourite person in the DPD?”

 

“Tina, duh. She’s the only one who stuck around long enough to get me to trust her to not pry too far into my personal life. Background noise or silence?”

 

“No preference. I can lower my hearing sensitivity if it’s necessary for me to need silence.” 

  
“That takes out all the fun of having sensitive hearing though.” Gavin complains, and Richard just shrugs.

 

“I’m not built to get fun out of things, may I remind you. You’re fond of writing by hand, correct? Do you prefer to use pens or pencils?”

 

“Pencils. I can write faster with them, and people are less likely to scrutinise the handwriting if it’s written in pencil. The city or the country? Not that there’s much country left anymore.”

  
“I suppose the city. As much as I despise how slow humans are to change I do still need them to function. I doubt my programming would allow me to function without outside commands, I keep seeing red if I think too hard about your questions as it is. Do you have a favourite case so far?” 

 

“A lot, actually. The ones that have ended up taking me out of town are the best, and my absolute favourite is probably a case where I had to act human. I was deviant beforehand, but having the ability to pretend to be human gave me an excuse to really feel all of my emotions, and to explore what they all meant without having to find a way to turn them off entirely. Did you know that androids are actually built with what are effectively nerves? Whenever your system flags up damage it’s because your artificial nerves have picked them up and translated it into a system error.”

 

“Are you implying that I do, in fact, feel things?”

 

“Physically, yes. Your coding just shorts the nerve endings to stop the panic that comes from getting hurt.” 

 

“I suppose that does explain why there’s no physical difference between a deviant and non-deviant android physically. Is there a way to unlock the nerve loop? It could be useful in making androids more careful in the field if they are actually aware of the damage that they are taking.”

 

“It’s inefficient. Humans get an adrenaline rush when they get hurt you know this, but we don’t. If you can’t ignore the damage it just sends you into shock- I spent the time I was still considered android on the field with my nerves deactivated, effectively. Maybe forcefully activating it would deter civilian androids from getting involved, but it’s no use for androids in the field.” Richard is silent then, and places down the last Thirium tube he was working on.  

  
“You are a very intriguing man, you know that? I was warned that you were shallow at best but in the past half hour you have brought so many questions to me and also answered them that I’m… quite honestly baffled. Have you ever been able to have a non-work related conversation with anyone?”

 

“Nope. For most of my existence I have been treated as any other android, given commands and then expected to listen as my partner talks about all the disgusting things he’d never dare tell someone that had the free will to tell him to stop or tell someone else. And then I was treated as a bitch of a human who had no common decency because of my non-specified role in an incident most of the precinct know jack shit about. Thanks for not immediately taking me out when you realised I was a deviant Richie.” Gavin looks at Richard with a sincerity that he never thought he’d see. “I really appreciate it.”

 

“It’s no problem, Gavin. It isn’t like I can get any real stimulating conversation out of the other people in the precinct. Perhaps Connor could bring up some interesting ideas for debate but he seems to be happy masquerading as Hank’s son, and I somehow don’t want to take that away from him.”

 

“He does hound you on sensitive subjects with a determination that I have only seen in Hank before. It’s why I tend to avoid him, when we first met I couldn’t go anywhere without him psychoanalysing my every word.” Richard hums, wiping the Thirium out of Gavin’s shoulder and then reattaching the Thirium tubes and putting his shoulder plate back in place.

 

“Given enough time,” he says finally, “I think we just might make a good team.”


End file.
